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Disney Rewatch Project: A Conclusion

60 movies. I just finished all 60 Disney movies in around six months. On the whole, I enjoyed it. Sometimes I didn't have anything to say about a particular movie, or nothing stuck out for me to discuss. I gave myself the goal of a minimum of 200 words per post and could do that pretty easily, especially when I wrote about more than one movie at a time.

It was enlighting to watch the evolution of Disney animation over the decades. It started with 2D, hand-drawn movies and ended in 3D computer-animated movies. It began with no diversity in cast or characters and finished with a movie set in Colombia with Hispanic/Latino people voicing the characters.

There were also plenty of movies I was watching for the first time. A lot of the older ones had never had the opportunity or the desire to watch. While the quality of these varied dramatically, the work it took to make them is incredible. I will always be a sucker for hand-drawn animation; it is rare to see these days.

Rewatching movies I had seen before was by far the most fun. Those I got to watch in a new light and, at times, focus on specific elements of the movie. It was also surprising to see how my opinions had changed. I remember enjoying "Frozen 2" when I first watched it in theaters, but I found it almost unwatchable on this viewing.

I have loved having a "project" like this and have already settled on future ones. It has given me something to work towards and allowed me to write pretty consistently. I have finished all three seasons of the original "Star Trek" series and will be doing reviews on each of the theatrical movies that were released once the series was canceled. In 2023, I plan on watching all the Studio Ghibli movies. Neither of these will be as long as this Disney rewatch; 60 movies is a lot, and not all studios or series have the staying power of Disney.

#disney rewatch project #disney animation

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Disney Rewatch Project: Encanto

We have arrived at the most recent Disney movie released in theaters, the 60th such film since 1937. "Encanto" is my favorite of the current era and in the top 10, possibly top five, of the movies I watched during this rewatch.

"Encanto" is the story of a family in Colombia who were granted magic a long time ago. For my full review, click here.

This is my third time watching "Encanto" all the way through, and there are sections I have seen more than that with all the times I watched it while covering Kindergarten lunch. This time I took notice of the other grandkids and the effect that Abuela's expectations had on them.

Antonio gets his gift near the movie's beginning, and you can see the pressure he is under even before he gets it. Mirabel finds him hiding under the bed before his ceremony. He wants everything to go perfectly because he has seen how Mirabel is treated when she does not get a gift. He is so scared that he needs Mirabel's help to walk to his door and see if he gets a gift when the time comes.

Luisa and Isabella, Mirabel's sisters, get whole songs where they spell out what is bothering them. In Luisa's case, she is, as she sings, "under pressure" to be the strong one. This means she cannot show any weakness either physically or emotionally. Those expectations are causing her to cover up insecurities and hide her pain. Isabella needs to be perfect. Every flower she makes using her gift needs to be beautiful. She makes them for other people and never does anything for herself.

Mirabel sees that she is not the only one who feels inadequate because of her Abuela. When she and Abuela have the big confrontation that snuffs out the magic and crumbles the house, she uses all she has learned and tells Abuela what others are too scared to say. It destroys their home, but it makes Abuela realize what she has been doing to the family and leads to one of the most beautiful scenes in the film when Abuela tells Mirabel all the pressures she feels to keep the family going. She realizes that she projected all those anxieties onto her family and shouldn't have.

#disney rewatch project #disney animation #movie review #encanto

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Disney Rewatch Project: Raya and the Last Dragon

2021 was a weird time for movies. Theaters were open with limited capacity and with masks required. The slate of movies was not that exciting, and not many people seemed to be going to the theater. The first time I ventured out to the theater in 2021 was on March 6th to see "Raya and the Last Dragon." With everything going on in the world at the time, I feel like this is one of the more overlooked Disney movies.

The land of Kumandara was under attack by the Druun, and the last dragons put their power into a gem and gave it to their younger sister Sisu who used it to stop the attack. Five hundred years later, the Dragon Gem is safe in the kingdom of Heart. When Chief Benja (Daniel Day Kim) invites the other tribes to talk about uniting the world again, the other kingdoms attack, and the Dragon gem is broken, and each kingdom grabs a piece. This unleashes the Druun, and many people are turned to stone. Six years later, Rayam Benja's daughter (Kelly Marie Tran) is on a quest to find Sisu, reunite the gem pieces and bring all the kingdoms together.

Disney doesn't have a good track record of having diverse characters leading their movies. Very few of these movies are led by, much less voiced by, people of color. Except for Alan Tudyk, the voice of Tuk Tuk, Rya's animal companion, everyone is of Asian descent. This movie is a step in the right direction.

I am all for stories that highlight the best in people, especially these days. That is what I enjoy most about "Raya and the Last Dragon." These people (and a dragon) work together and trust each other. They bring out the best in one another and make the group better in the process. It happens many times in media. When this was released, people rightfully compared it to "Avatar: The Last Airbender." Watch the Honest Trailer for this movie. It points out every way that the two stories are similar. While some might count that as a point against the movie, I think it is better for it.

#disney rewatch project #disney animation #raya and the last dragon

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Disney Rewatch Project: Frozen II

After a string of great movies, Disney put out two lackluster sequels; "Ralph Breaks the Internet" and the more disappointing of the two, "Frozen II." I would go so far as to say it is easily the worst movie of this era.

Elsa (Idina Manzel) and Anna (Kristen Bell) must venture into a magical land to save their kingdom from disaster.

Let's get it out of the way. "Frozen II" is not good. The best part of the movie is Olaf (Josh Gad) recounting the first movie's events for the people they meet behind the veil of mist. That's it. If you are looking for more good things, you will be disappointed.

First and foremost, the songs are not as good. The one exception is "Into the Unknown." That song is better than this movie deserves. The rest of the songs are so immediately forgettable. When the first movie came out, one of the people involved said they should have given Johnathan Groff, who plays Kristof, more than one song. He is a Broadway star and gets one short song in "Frozen." They give him more in "Frozen II," but they are not good or give him a chance to shine like "Let It Go" did for fellow Broadway star Manzel. It is just one of many ways this movie misses the mark.

Then there is Olaf's existential crisis. I can see the idea behind it; a fun subplot for the parents to enjoy (and I use that term loosely). It is not funny at all and makes the character insufferable. It is a storyline that leads nowhere and sucks even more of the fun out of a movie with almost no fun.

"Frozen II" feels less like a movie and more like an attempt to cash in on the "Frozen" name. Of the current era movies, this is easily the worst. It is one of a handful of movies from this rewatch that I do not plan on watching again.

#disney rewatch project #disney animation #frozen #frozen 2

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Disney Rewatch Project: Ralph Breaks the Internet

Sequels can be tricky. Every sequel has to recapture the first movie's magic and move the story forward and be something new. Sometimes you get "Empire Strikes Back," and sometimes you get "Jaws: The Revenge." More often than not, sequels are good but forgettable, and unfortunately, that is where "Ralph Breaks the Internet" falls.

When the wheel for Sugar Rush breaks, Ralph (John C Riley) and Vanellope (Sarah Silverman) venture to the internet to get a replacement from eBay.

There is a lot about "Ralph Breaks the Internet" that I like, but it fails to live up to the first. The first one had a lot of heart to it. Ralph is trying to be the good guy and failing. It is only when he accepts that he is the bad guy that he succeeds in becoming a good guy. I'm not sure the overall message of this movie is as strong. It basically boils down to being happy for your friends.

There are tons of excellent internet references and the movie, and I could spend a lot of time on its shockingly accurate picture of what internet fame looks like, but there is one scene I love more than anything else. That's right, it's the Disney Princess scene.

Vanellope is sent to the Disney section of the web to get likes for a video of Ralph. Stormtroopers chase her for being an unauthorized pop-up on the site. She hides in a dressing room where all the Disney princesses are hanging out. As they try to figure out what is the matter with her, they list all the terrible things that happened to them in their movies, and Vanellope responds, "Are you guys ok?" It is an amazingly self-aware scene where it takes comments on all that makes them princesses and on their antiquated portrayals. It's definitely on YouTube, so go check it out.

"Wreck-It Ralph" was the movie that made me a Disney fanatic again. I was excited about the sequel. There is a lot to like about it, but it is missing the heart that made the original special.

#disney rewatch project #disney animation #ralph breaks the internet

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Disney Rewatch Project: Moana

If there is one person who could outshine the juggernaut that "Frozen" was back in 2016, it was Dwayne Johnson. The man formerly known as "The Rock" is one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood and is a big reason "Moana" became a hit.

Moana (Auli'i Cravalho) is the daughter of an island chief in ancient Polynesia who longs to explore the ocean but must stay and help lead her people. When a curse threatens her home, Moana ventures out to find the demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) and get him to help break the curse.

I wish I had realized this sooner, but we are well within the era of Disney that coincided with my review "career." It would have made these a bit easier. If you want my thoughts on the movie, click here.

I want to talk about my favorite moment from the movie, and it's not Johnson singing "You're Welcome," as much as I love that song. The moment happens during the reprise of "How Far I'll Go."

After discovering that her people used to be voyagers, she heads back to the village and learns that her grandmother is dying. Moana runs to her grandmother's side. Her grandmother tells her to go and save the island. She leaves her grandmother and gets a boat. As she sails off the island, the lights in the village go out, and a shockwave races towards the ocean, where it turns into a giant stingray made of light, and it guides Moana beyond the island's reef and into the open ocean.

Her grandmother is the one who has encouraged her to follow her own path. She was seen as the "village crazy lady," and Moana was the only one who saw her as the wise woman she was. She encouraged her to go against what her father told her and save the island. As Moana sails away from the island, her grandmother's spirit leads her away from home. It's a moment that makes me tear up every time I watch it.

#disney rewatch project #disney animation #moana #movie review

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"The Emoji Movie" may have been a financial and critical bomb, but one good thing came out of it; it gave us Jordan Peele, director. He was offered a role in the movie based on his massively successful show "Key and Peele." He was offered the role of Poop, which eventually went to Patrick Stewart, and it caused him to retire from acting. After this, he started directing and has had a string of great horror movies. His latest is "Nope."

OJ (Daniel Kaluuya) and Emerald (Kiki Palmer) run a ranch that trains horses for movies. When some weird things happen, the two siblings try to get to the bottom while the local theme park owner tries to cash in on it.

While I enjoyed this movie a lot, I think it is the weakest of his three films. "Get Out," "Us," and now "Nope" all comment on aspects of society. A lot is going on in "Nope," and I don't think it nails any of it. It feels like Peele tried to pack too much into the movie and did not have enough room to explore them in depth (even at two hours and 10 minutes in length).

I loved the sci-fi elements in "Nope." There is one scene where OJ is being chased by something (I don't want to spoil it) that feels so epic and unlike anything from his previous movies. What Peele does best is show the (spoiler) in glimpses until the right time. It was reminiscent of "Jaws," where the shark looms in the background for most of the movie. In "Nope," it kept the mystery of what this thing is and allowed the film to establish itself before the big reveal.

All that being said, this is easily his most ambitious movie. There is a lot to like about it. This is not a horror movie like his last two have been. "Nope" leans more towards sci-fi, and it is fantastic to see Peele's take on a new genre. This may not have been his strongest movie, but Peele remains a director who I will always make time for.

7/10

Rated R for language throughout and some violence/bloody images.

2hrs. 10mins.

#movie review #nope #jordan peele

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Disney Rewatch Project: Big Hero 6

When I wrote about "Frozen," I mentioned the cultural juggernaut it became. It was such a massive success that it overshadowed "Big Hero 6," released a year later, which is a shame because "Big Hero 6" is a damn good movie.

Hiro (Ryan Potter) is a 14-year-old genius. When a tragedy occurs, he befriends a loveable robot named Baymax (Scott Adsit). Hiro, Baymax, and his friends team up and become high-tech heroes.

"Big Hero 6" is a great movie. I will do my best not to spoil the emotional gut punch that happens in the beginning that sets off the movie's events, but it is up there with one of the most devastating moments in a kid's movie.

Once the superhero stuff kicks in, the movie goes to another level. All of Hiro's friends are genius college students working on revolutionary technology. Each of their suits incorporates what they have been working on in their lab. There is the obligatory training montage as they each modify their tech to work with their suits, but there are some entertaining fight sequences, especially the climactic battle to defeat the bad guy.

The heart of this movie is the robot Baymax. His initial function is to diagnose and help people with medical problems. Hiro becomes obsessed with getting revenge and doesn't see what is happening to him. At one point, he removes Baymax's health care chip and replaces it with fighting. It is only later, when Baymax reminds Hiro of why he was programmed to care, that Hiro sees it too. Seeing this loveable, caring robot go ballistic hits home how far gone Hiro is.

This is not a movie I have revisited much since my first viewing, but it is excellent. It got lost in the "Frozen" tidal wave, and so it was easy for people to miss.

#disney rewatch project #disney animation #big hero 6 #movie review

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Thor: Love and Thunder

Thor has had a very interesting time in the MCU. I would be shocked to hear anyone say he was their favorite character in the first four movies he appeared in. The character was not as interesting good as Chris Hemsworth was in the role. Then Taika Waititi took the writing and directing reins for "Thor: Ragnarok" and completely changed how Thor was presented in the MCU. He became a fun character with much more depth. "Thor: Love and Thunder" is the second outing for Waititi in the MCU and hopefully not his last.

After being spurned, Gorr (Christian Bale) vows to kill all the gods for abandoning those who worship them. When New Asguard is attacked, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) teams with King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) and his ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman).

I am a massive fan of the comic book run of Jane as Thor. In this movie, Jane Foster has all the same powers as Thor. She can wield his hammer and call down lightning. Like in the comics, Jane has cancer and is undergoing chemo. Whenever she picks up the hammer, it wipes the chemo from her body. Essentially, being Thor is killing her. I was glad they kept this storyline for the movie. It brings an important weight to the character. Jane being a hero has more consequences than just beating the bad guy; she is going to lose either way. She is choosing to go out on her terms. Portman balances the overall silliness of Thor with the drama this role needs.

The other emotional core of this movie is Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher. He falls into this category of villain that you can empathize with. You can see his point even if you disagree with his methods. A god he worshiped and followed all his life showed him no empathy. This being could not have cared less about what Gorr had been through, and you can understand why he decided to kill all the gods.

I wanted to love this movie as much as I loved "Ragnarok," but it didn't recapture the magic. This one was not as fun as its predecessor and couldn't balance the serious tone with the needed comedic elements. I still enjoyed the heck out of it, but it was missing the absolute wackiness that made "Ragnarok" such a unique movie.

7/10

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, language, some suggestive material and partial nudity.

1hr 58mins.

#thor love and thunder #movie review #mcu #chris hemsworth #natalie portman

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Disney Rewatch Project: Frozen

Very few movies I would call a cultural phenomenon. I don't think most Marvel movies have the cultural footprint they are given credit for, except for "Avengers Endgame" (maybe if I do a Marvel rewatch, I'll expand on that thought). I cannot think of a movie in the past decade with the staying power of "Frozen." This could be because I work with the movie's target audience for over 183 days a year.

Do I even need to write a plot summary? Elsa (Idina Manzel) and Anna (Kristen Bell) are princesses. Elsa has ice powers, and Anna doesn't. On the day of Elsa's coronation, she loses control of her powers and flees to the mountains. Anna goes after her sister. Kristoff (Johnathan Groff) and his reindeer Sven are there too.

I was teaching preschool when this movie came out. I heard "Let It Go" so many times that it became a part of my nightmares. Don't get me wrong, that song is great, but even great songs grate on you if you hear them enough (see what I did there??).

I hated the song "Fixer Upper" when I first heard it; my stance hasn't changed in the intervening years. It's a very important song in terms of the plot, though. It lays out the key to how Anna can help Elsa control her powers. "We're only saying that love's a force that's powerful and strange. People make bad choices if they're mad or scared or stressed. But throw a little love their way, and you'll bring out their best True love brings out the best."

What I like best about "Frozen" is that these two princesses don't need a prince to save them. They save each other. In the end, it is their love for each other that saves the day. It is one of the reasons I think this movie has had staying power; it stands out among dozens of Disney movies.

#disney rewatch project #disney animation #frozen

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Dinsey Rewatch Project: Wreck-It Ralph

If I haven't convinced you that "The Lion King" was a seminal movie for me, then nothing will. As a kid, it is what made me love movies in general. Disney may have had a lot of my attention, but as I got older, I directed my movie attention elsewhere and did not get excited about a new Disney flick. All that changed with "Wreck-It Ralph."

Ralph (John C. Riley) is the bad guy in the Fix-It Felix Jr. game. The other characters in the game treat him with disdain because of it. This is how it has been for 30 years. He becomes determined to win a medal and be seen as a hero.

"Wreck-It Ralph" was the perfect movie to get me to dive back into Disney. It is full of nerdy video game references, homages, and character cameos. And on top of that, it is a fantastic movie. I have watched it at least half a dozen times, and I still get teary-eyed when Ralph becomes a true hero during that climax.

When I rewatch a movie after many years, I pick up on things I hadn't before. I am a different person than I was when I first watched it. I found myself drawn to Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman) on this viewing. She is a glitch in Sugar Rush, a mistake in the game's code. She wants to be a racer, but since she is not an official part of the game, she can't. When she glitches, she uncontrollably teleports. For the first time, I saw this "glitch" as a representation of neurodivergence. As someone who falls under the neurodivergent umbrella, I was actually moved by how the movie used the character. She learns to embrace her glitch, and it becomes a superpower. It was not until a few years ago that I began to embrace my own "glitch" and understand it as more than just a label.

#disney rewatch project #disney animation #wreck it ralph

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Disney Rewatch Project: Winnie the Pooh

There are very few Disney movies I would consider underrated. 2011's "Winnie the Pooh" is one of those. When I first saw it many years ago, I was surprised. I do not remember a massive advertising campaign for it. I don't remember trailers or much talk about it leading up to its release. So I was genuinely shocked when it was an excellent movie.

Pooh (Jim Cummings) and his friends in the Hundred Acre Woods think that the Backson has kidnaped Christopher Robin, and they set out to rescue him.

I love the meta nature of this movie. Much like the one from 1977, the narrator plays a part in this movie, often talking directly to Pooh. I especially love how the story's text is worked into the movie. At one point, Pooh uses the letters to make a ladder to get out of a hole. It is things like this that set this movie apart from the majority of Disney movies. A lot of this movie is just very silly.

"Winnie the Pooh" was the first major theatrical release for Pooh since the original movie in 1977. There were some direct-to-DVD movies, but nothing that the studio had enough faith in to release in a theater. 2011's Pooh outing was also the last time Disney released a hand-drawn animated movie in theaters. The idea was to release a hand-drawn movie every two years. When this movie did not perform as well as Disney would have liked ($50 million worldwide on a $30 million budget), they abandoned that for the computer-animated movies that continue to be successful for them. That is a bummer. This movie was fantastic, at just over an hour (63 minutes), and is damn near the perfect length for a kid's movie.

#disney rewatch project #disney animation #winne the pooh

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Disney Rewatch Project: Tangled

"Tangled" is Disney's take on Repunzel. They give the story more meat by making her hair magic and getting her out of the tower to go on an adventure of self-discovery.

While pregnant with her daughter, Repunzel's mother gets very sick. The king sends his men out to find a magic flower. It saves the queen, and its power finds its way into the baby's hair. If it is cut, it loses its power. An evil witch Mother Gothel (Donna Murphy), had been using the flower to keep herself young for hundreds of years. She kidnaps the baby and locks her away in a tower.

I don't necessarily care about the magic hair; it is a Disney approach to make the story broader. I do really like taking her out of the tower angle. It makes it into an adventure movie more than a fairytale. There are some fun action sequences, but there are also some great songs. Mandy Moore, before acting, was a singer and got to show off that talent here.

I have loved Zachary Levi, who plays Flynn Rider, ever since I saw him in "Chuck" and he has done a lot of great things since that show went off the air. I was impressed to find out that he has a decent singing voice to go along with his acting ability.

There is an unconfirmed theory that Anna and Elsa's parents were on their way to Rapunzel and Flynn's wedding when they died in a shipwreck. This theory is bolstered by the fact that Repunzel makes an appearance in Frozen.

A lot of where Disney has gone in the past few years can be traced back to "Tangled." From here on out, the movies are all computer-aminated, and as great as they are, it's kind of a bummer.

#disney rewatch project #disney animation #movie review #tangled

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Disney Rewatch Project: The Princess and the Frog

Welcome to the Revival Era! This is the era of Disney movies that we are in currently. The odds are that each of these will be getting a solo review. The first movie in this era is the last 2D and hand-drawn animated movie that Disney has done. Which I think is a travesty; we will get to that later.

Tiana (Anika Noni Rose) is a waitress with dreams of opening a restaurant. Prince Naveen (Bruno Campos) has been removed from his family's fortune. He comes to New Orleans with the hope of marrying a rich woman. A voodoo witch doctor, Dr. Facillier (Keith David), places a curse on the prince and turns him into a frog. He meets up with Tiana, who turns into a frog when she kisses him. The two must find a way to change back.

I like this movie a lot, and part of the reason is the hand-drawn animation. I like the other movies, but I have so much more respect for this movie because of the time and care that the animators put into it. It is something I wish the studio would go back to every once and a while. I love the computer-animated movies that have been made recently, but there is something special about hand-drawn movies.

Tiana has become the prototype for all Disney heroines during the Revival Era. She is not the damsel in need of saving from a man. She is determined to do things on her own. Tiana only kisses a frog because he promised to pay for her restaurant. If you look at all the female main characters in the movies that follow, they can solve their problems- in fact, the men usually are the ones who complicate things for them. This is a far cry from the Snow Whites or Sleeping Beautys of the classic Disney movies.

#disney rewatch project #disney animation #movie review #the princess and the frog

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Disney Rewatch Project: Meet The Robinsons and Bolt

These are the final two movies of the Post Renaissance Era, and I am glad it is over. It is more the mediocrity of these movies that have been the issue. There is only one great movie from this era; "Lilo and Stitch." So let's end this lackluster Disney era, shall we?

"Meet the Robinsons" is not that good. It is very forgettable and very predictable. The time travel elements of this movie are pretty interesting, but those have been done better in movies much better than this one. With many movies in this era, I feel like there is nothing much to say about them. They are, simply put, unremarkable.

On the other hand, I did have fun with "Bolt." A dog named Bolt is the star of a television show where is a superhero. He doesn't know it is a tv show; he thinks it is all real. This poses a problem when he thinks his owner gets kidnapped. He breaks out of the studio lot to rescue her—hijinks ensue.

There is a lot to like in "Bolt." There are some good action sequences, and there are some funny moments. Watching Bolt learn how to be a dog makes for some of the movie's best moments. He lived in this fantasy world for his whole life and was so convinced it was real that he didn't even know what it meant when his stomach was rumbling.

"Bolt" marks the end of the Post-Renaissance Era. Now we enter the current era, The Revival Era.

#disney rewatch project #disney animation #meet the robinsons #bolt

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Movie Review: Top Gun: Maverick

I have been meaning to get back to writing reviews of current movies. Many movies were delayed because of the pandemic or went straight to streaming. With theaters open with no restrictions, the big movies are back, and I can think of no movie better to restart proper reviews than "Top Gun: Maverick."

The original "Top Gun" came out in 1986. The road to the sequel spans 36 years, a resurgence in Tom Cruise's career, and a global pandemic. "Top Gun: Maverick" was supposed to come out in July 2019, but the release was changed several times for various reasons before COVID hit. Cruise was instant that it came out in theaters and was not available on streaming for much longer than usual.

"Maverick" takes place 36 years after the original. Pete "Maverick" Mitchell is called back to Top Gun to train the best the Airforce offers to prepare them for a unique mission (one might call it an impossible mission…)

Legasequels (legacy sequels) are a big thing in Hollywood. The basic formula is to bring back original characters, introduce new characters, and pay homage to the original. There have been great ones like the most recent "Scream," "Creed," and "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." There have been bad ones like "Terminator: Dark Fate," Independence Day: Resurgence" and "Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." Thankfully, "Top Gun: Maverick" fits into the former category.

Say what you will about him as a person, but Tom Cruise knows how to make movies meant to be seen on the big screen. This movie has some exceptional action sequences. The technology on display to showcase the planes in action is stunning. Cruise learned to fly fighter jets for this movie (the man seems to be trying to die on a film set), and seeing him in the cockpit only adds to how incredible these scenes are. These 15-ton machines move so gracefully is something to see up close.

I want to mention something that is a potential spoiler, so skip this part if you're going to go in completely fresh. I was curious how the movie would have Val Kilmer's "Iceman" in this movie. Kilmer has throat cancer, and it hurts for him to speak. Maverick and Iceman communicate through text for much of the movie, but we get one scene of them together. It is an incredible scene that gives us all the backstory we need about the 30 years of friendship between them. It is also bittersweet. As great as it is to see Kilmer on screen, this is, most likely, the last role he will ever play.

While I enjoyed the first one (I recently rewatch it), I am not a massive fan of it, but this one is incredible. It has an actual plot (I don't think the first one did), and because the technology has advanced so far in 30-plus years, the action is much better.

8/10 Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense action, and some strong language 2hrs 10min.

#movie review #top gun maverick #tom cruise

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Random Rambling: Thoughts on the Jurassic Park/Jurassic World Series

In preparation for Jurassic World: Dominion, I decided to rewatch all the Jurassic movies. Here are my thoughts

Jurassic Park: -This is a perfect movie; I have no notes. -I have watched this movie over a dozen times, and I just now noticed that Lex grabs Dr. Grant's hand when they are going to see the sick Triceratops. -I watched this on HBOMax (despite having it on Blu-ray), and whatever transfer they are using, while great, makes the special effects look dated. It made me realize that the version of the movie I own is the last version I will buy. The special effects still hold up on the disc I own. -Seriously, this is a perfect movie.

The Lost World -This applies to every single sequel (except the third). No one learns the lesson of "Jurassic Park." This is a bad idea. Don't do it. Yet…everyone seems to think they can do what John Hammond couldn't. -That kid is so annoying. -Do you know how many people die in the original? 4. Every sequel needs to up the ante and makes the deaths more brutal. This is also a flaw in this and the four other sequels. -The high shot of the raptors walking through the tall grass as they hunt is fantastic. -The T-Rex on the mainland could have led to something interesting. It just ended up being a knock-off Godzilla.

Jurassic Park III -This is my least favorite of the Jurassic Park movies. -Another annoying kid. -I have always hated the fact that the Spinasauras kills the T-Rex. To me, that says, "Screw that old movie. This is a more dangerous dinosaur. This movie is cooler and scarier." I will have a similar thought when we get to "Fallen Kingdom." -We have established that raptors are intelligent. This movie makes them super-intelligent creatures who can play tricks on their prey. The first one we see is laying its head behind a jar of formaldehyde (I think) to fool the humans into thinking it is a specimen in a jar. It is an idiotic scene. -I do not buy Dr. Grant's motivation to return to the island. He knows how dangerous it is, and no amount of money should change that. -The reveal that they are on the island to find a kid is dumb. It also turns Mr. and Mrs. Kirby into the most insufferable assholes in the movie.

Jurassic World -I will fully admit that I still love the reveal of the original T-Rex at the end of this movie. It is 100 percent a cheap nostalgia trick, but I love it nonetheless. -I forgot how insufferable Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) is as a character. Chris Pratt's Owen is not much better. -I remember liking this movie initially, but I have very much soured on it since I last watched it. -The two kids are less annoying than the one in "The Lost World," but no one will ever be as great as Lex and Tim from the original. -I have always hated the death of the assistant who is looking after the kids. A Pteranodon picks her up, and as it flies away, the Mosasaurus leaps out of the pool and eats them both. This has always been the cruelest death to me. It is very excessive for a character who didn't do anything to deserve it. The lawyer's death in the original is easier to take (he just abandoned the kids at the first sign of the T-rex moments before he is eaten).

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom -For being such a massive part of the marketing, Jeff Goldblum's Dr. Malclom is barely in the movie (and he might be one of the only good things about the movie). -The only reason I am invested in this movie at all is because of Blue (the velociraptor). I care about her more than any of the humans. -One of the reasons I dislike this movie is that it is confirmed that the brachiosaurus who dies as our heroes leave the island is the same one that Dr. Grant and Dr. Sadler see when they first get to Jurassic Park. That is a pointless bit to include and a slap in the face of the fans of the original. -I cannot count how many times I said, "The movie is so stupid." during its over 2-hour runtime. Stupid things happen, characters say dumb things, and the plot gets so stupid. I would rather watch "Jurassic Park III" again.

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